ON THE TRADE IN NUTS. 459 



100 kilogrammes ; for Les Dames 50 francs, for common almonds 25 

 francs, and for Wild, 18 francs. 



Chestnuts. — Our foreign trade in chestnuts, the fruit of Castanea vesca, 

 is not very large, scarcely ever exceeding 70,000 bushels. In 1861 it 

 was 53,711 bushels, of which about 40,000 came from France, 10,000 

 from Spain and Portugal, and the rest from Italy. There is very little 

 difference in the wholesale price, but the French chestnuts fetch about 

 8d or 9d. the bushel more than those from other quarters. 



The two most desirable varieties of this tree cultivated in France 

 are La Chataigne verte du Limousin, which produces very large excel- 

 lent nuts, of a rich creamy flavour and aromatic odour when roasted, 

 that will keep a long time, and the tree of which preserves its leaves 

 green much longer than any of the other sorts ; and La Chataigne 

 exaltade, the fruit of which is the best of all common chestnuts for the 

 table ; but, although the tree is low with spreading branches, it is such 

 an abundant bearer that it soon exhausts itself. The best chestnuts are 

 those which permit of being kept in a good state for several months. 

 This is done by preserving them in layers of straw or in sand. In 

 parts of France and Corsica the fruit is husked and dried, and then bears 

 the'name of Chataigne bland In France and Corsica they are made into 

 flour for a porridge boiled with milk, or a kind of cake or pudding. 



The large species of chestnuts grown in Fiance and Italy are known 

 by the name of Marrons. The best are those of Lyon and St. Tropez 

 (a small town in the department of the Var.) Those of St. Tropez are 

 divided into three sorts — common, good, and best, but these last do not 

 include the marrons of first quality, of a very large size. They are 

 gathered during the month of September. The usual modes of cooking 

 chestnuts in France and Italy are boiling them in water with simply a 

 little salt, or with leaves of celery, sage, or any other herbs which may 

 impart to them an agreeable flavour ; and roasting them in hot ashes 

 or in a coffee roaster. They are also occasionally scorched before the 

 fire, or on a shovel ; but when thus prepared are not considered so 

 good. In whatever way they are roasted, the French cooks previously 

 slit the skin or shell of all except one ; and when that cracks and flies 

 off, it is an indication that the rest are done. 



The principal countries in which the chestnut is employed as an im- 

 portant article of food are the south of France, Spain, and the north of 

 Italy, where it serves in a great measure as a substitute both for potatoes 

 and bread. In the island of Corsica, Tuscany, and several parts of Italy, 

 there is a very large commerce in chestnuts. In these countries, espe- 

 cially in Corsica, as well as in Limousin and other places, chestnuts form 

 the chief sustenance of the country people, as the grain harvests would be 

 totally insufficient for their consumption. Bilbao,Bayonne,Liboiirne,Bour- 

 deaux, Limousin, Berry, Perigord, the Rhenish Provinces, the Tyrol, Hun- 

 gary, Moravia, &c, produce a smaller kind of chestnut. Chestnuts to the 

 value of 834Z, were shipped from Bilbao in 1860 to Holland and Bel- 

 li R 2 



